Spotlight: ISS arms expert heads to Libya

Ben Coetzee is the latest ISS appointment to a UN experts' panel. ISS experts are valued internationally and shape global responses to African conflicts.

Published on 28 May 2015 in Impact

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) senior researcher Ben Coetzee has been appointed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General to the UN Panel of Experts on Libya.

This follows several previous appointments of ISS experts to UN panels. ‘This appointment allows ISS to expand its expertise into North Africa,’ says Coetzee. ‘The current crisis in Libya has a profound impact on security not only in North Africa, but also for the Mediterranean region. It’s in the best interest of the international community that stability be restored’.

Coetzee joins the experts’ panel from June 2015 until April 2016. The panel is responsible for supporting the UN Security Council Committee established by UN resolution 1973 (2011), which monitors sanctions imposed on Libya by the Security Council.

Coetzee is one of only two arms experts selected to the six-member panel

As one of only two arms experts selected to the six-member panel, he will collect data on the supply, sale and transfer of arms, especially through illicit trafficking networks.

The ISS collaborates with governments and organisations across the globe to prevent conflict in Africa. Coetzee’s appointment enables the ISS to directly influence responses to conflict and crisis in Africa and shows ISS experts are well respected internationally.

For more information, contact:

Ben Coetzee, ISS: +27 12 346 9500, [email protected]